WDYTYA is canceled by NBC for its 4th season !!! #Genealogy, #Ancestry, #NBC

by C. Michael Eliasz-Solomon

Stanczyk is sad that WDYTYA (“Who Do You Think You Are?“) has been canceled by NBC — There will NOT be a 4th season.

This was reported by Investors Business Dailyat 9:00am today by Patrick Seitz (why do this when I am en route to an archive?). The impact upon Ancestry.com was immediate. Today its stock (ACOM) is down 13.15% at the time of this article.

From a business standpoint, I think this is an over reaction. First off this, is a year of the 1940 census and that has been as HUGE up to all census related sites (see this jester’s Genealogy Website Rankings page). Also Ancestry has launched its DNA initiative (AncestryDNA). Now this has the costs baked in already and whatever revenue stream this produces will accrue to the bottom line. Stanczyk has already fielded questions about this product, so there does exist some buzz for the product and it was announced/promoted at this year’s RootsTech Conference. Add in the PBS’s own series “Finding Your Roots” and there does seem to be an “rising tide lifts all boats” effect in progress.

So I have to ask, “Is NBC short sighted in this action or at least are they acting out of synch with other media/events that are happening?”.

I think NBC should move it to Saturday night. So we could have a Saturday / Sunday bonanza between NBC and PBS. Both series could do a “push-pull” to lift each other. If NBC is firm then, perhaps a Cable network will pick up this series??? Please! Here is what I think might be good fits:

Bravo – Who doesn’t like The Actor Studio? Similar audience since the celebrity genealogy is a kind of deep dive into a celeb’s background.

OWN – Oprah seems like the kind of family oriented billionaire who has the wherewithal, clout, and morals to keep this content going … strong.

A&E TV – This network has Bio and History channels. There must be a slot available there

BYU TV – This would be my last choice given its limited availability. But BYU and LDS audience would be interested in this PROVO, UT send-up and the rest of us could follow along.

As this season draws to a close, I wanted to say, “Thanks” to WDYTYA and Finding Your Roots for an excellent season.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Email me!

One Comment to “WDYTYA is canceled by NBC for its 4th season !!! #Genealogy, #Ancestry, #NBC”

Can you Post a link to NBC/PBS so that we can contact the proper Dept. and tell them how disappointed we are that they have canceled WDYTYA? Perhap the other “125 of the top genealogy sites” could also participate by posting the link on their sites?
WDYTYA & Finding your Roots with Mr. Louis Gates are my favorite shows that are worth watching!